Course Resource Configuration

Overview

Before submitting a job on Wulver, it’s important to understand how resources such as cores, memory, and GPUs are allocated for course users.
Each job’s runtime and Service Unit (SU) charge depend on how many nodes and resources are requested.

Partition (Use --partition)

Course-related jobs must be submitted to one of the course partitions listed below:

Partition	Nodes	Cores per Node	GPU	Memory per Node	SU Charge per Hour
--​partition​=​course	64	32–48	NA	375 GB	MAX(CPUs, Memory/4G) SU
--​partition​=​course_gpu	4	32–48	A100 10G MIG	375 GB	2 + MAX(CPUs, Memory/4G) SU

Courses that require GPU computing are assigned NVIDIA A100 10G MIG units for GPU-enabled coursework.

Service Units

Each user is allocated 2500 Service Units (SUs) in their account for the duration of their course.
SUs are consumed based on how many cores, memory, and GPUs your job requests and how long it runs.

SU Calculation Examples

Example 1 – CPU-only job
20 cores for 8 hours (no --mem specified, so default 4G per core will be allocated)

SU = MAX(CPUs, Memory/4G) x Hours 
SU = (20, 4/4) × 8 = 160  

Example 2 – GPU job
20 cores + 1 GPU for 8 hours with --mem=128G

SU = [2 + MAX(CPUs, Memory/4G)] x Hours 
SU = [2 + MAX(20, 128/4)] × 8 
SU = (2 + 32) × 8 = 34 × 8 = 272

To make the most of your SUs, avoid overestimating cores or memory. Over-allocation wastes SUs and delays scheduling.

Please visit here for more info on Service Units

Account

Every course is assigned a dedicated account for SU billing.
You must specify this account in all SLURM job scripts using the --account flag.

Account Format

<semester>-<course>-<instructor_ucid>-<student_ucid>

For example:

#SBATCH --account=2025-fall-ds-492-kjc59-ls565

# 2025-fall → Semester
# ds-492 → Course code
# kjc59 → Instructor’s UCID
# ls565 → Student’s UCID

Note

Each user’s specific account information will be emailed to them when HPC resources for that course is allocated. You can also view all accounts assigned to you using the quota_info command.

Important Notes:

• Your UCID and password are used to log in to the cluster.
• Your account name is used for SU tracking and billing.
• If you are enrolled in multiple courses or research projects, ensure that you submit jobs using the correct account to avoid suspension or access issues.
• Use the quota_info command to view all accounts assigned to you.

Priority (Use --qos)

All course-related jobs must include the --qos=course flag.
This ensures fair scheduling and appropriate priority for classwork jobs.

Qos	Purpose	Wall time limit (hours)	Valid Users
--​qos​=​course	For all course-related jobs	72	Course users only

Example:

#SBATCH --qos=course

Course Directory

Each student is assigned a dedicated course directory, and all work must be done inside it, including job scripts and outputs.

Directory Format

/course/<year>/<semester>/<course>/<instructor_ucid>/<student_ucid>

Example:

/course/2025/fall/ds/492/kjc59/ls565

To switch to your course directory after logging in:

cd /course/2025/fall/ds/492/kjc59/ls565

Or add it to your .bash_profile for automatic navigation:

echo 'cd /course/2025/fall/ds/492/kjc59/ls565' >> ~/.bash_profile

Note

Your specific course directory path will also be emailed to you along with account information when resources are allocated.